The week had passed quickly, Tegan had received a brief fire message from her father to say he had reached the border of Siberia and would be in contact again soon. With nothing left to do but await his return and carry out her duties as an Elite Guard, Tegan was slowly settling into her new life at the Canadian Headquarters. She knew that Michael and Sloane were the ones she had to thank for that. Her cousin was relentless in his pursuit of getting to know her, to the point he was even getting up when she did, in order for them to train together.
The other Sentinels, especially the Elite Guard, were receptive to her. Bryce, the Commander of the Elite, had been prickly at first. However, once she had detailed her report of the perimeter fencing and her suggestions, Tegan had not pressed for changes, rather waiting for him to discuss them. When he had done so they slowly began to adapt the changes into the working order of the Elite. The Commander and the other Elite had made her feel welcome into their ranks. Tegan already knew some of them, as some had been present for her Trials over the years and most recently, Jasper had been her opponent in her final Trial. He had been hard to defeat, but she had defeated him and had been trepidatious when she learned he was stationed here. However, after their bumpy start the day of the Drakhyn threat at Headquarters, they got on well and he was one of the louder voices advocating for her suggested changes. The Guard were active in strengthening the defences, every Akrhyn aware of the Drakhyn threat from the fence the week before. No one knew who the female was that they sought. Tove had left to check with other Houses for any word on similar activity or to ask the older Akrhyn if they were aware of any such story. As Tove was also a Lycan, she could ask through the Lycan community and the few remaining packs – those that did not conform to the Houses and Sentinels but chose to live wild and as they termed it – free.
Cord had left when his mother and Cornelius had and Tegan had heard nothing from him since. He hadn’t asked of anything of hers in order to test Sloane’s theory. Tegan had assumed he would want her hair or her blood, but he had been derisive in his remarks when she had suggested it to him. Instead of staying and punching him for the superior way in which he spoke to her, she had left and not seen him again. Sloane had laughed when she had merely walked away from his brother and said that she was already settling into the mate bond – he hadn’t been laughing when Tegan struck him with a kali stick in response. Still, she found herself thinking of Cord at odd times and immediately cursed herself for doing so, trying to convince herself that she was merely curious about the so called mate bond and not the way his cool grey eyes would rest on her as if he knew a secret and had yet to share.
Or the way my skin prickled when he stood behind me, his lips brushing my ear, she thought to herself.
Despite Tegan’s protestations that she was not interested in a betrothal, Tegan found herself very much the centre of the male Akrhyns attention. Kai, whom she had seen several times now, was particularly amorous towards her and once she got used to his gentle teasing, she quite enjoyed their interactions. It was new to her, she hadn’t had these encounters when she lived at Silver Lake and even though she accepted it was distracting, it was… fun. Michael had an uncanny knack of turning up whenever she was alone with Kai though, he even sat through one of her training lessons to deter, what he called, any advances from Kai. Kai had been frustrated, but despite the newness of it to her, Tegan had been quietly appreciative of her brother’s interference. She didn’t know what she was doing and although flattered with the attention, her words in the study were true; she wasn’t here to be betrothed or distracted. She had a job to do and that was mostly what she was interested in. Once again, Tegan found herself pushing away the image of dark red robes and taunting grey eyes.
“Tegan?”
She turned and saw Salem standing uncertainly at the door to the training room. “Salem,” she greeted him with a little more warmth than she had initially. He had been very patient with her and not pushed for a relationship, merely asking her to attend dinners with him and the family so they could learn more about each other. The family was Michael, Sloane and Marcus, and Tegan found she enjoyed their company very much. They had not heard from Zahra since she left the other night, Michael had tried to contact his sister, but she would not return his calls.
“We thought that perhaps you may want to sit in on a human studies class?” he said as he walked into the training room. “Marcus is convinced there are no more wars for you to learn the history of. You’ve already started your one-on-one training with him, human studies are an area where you may wish to learn?” Tegan frowned, her father had always dissuaded her of learning about humans, seeing her hesitation, Salem pushed on. “Michael teaches the class, today they are learning about one of the human world wars that impacted Akrhyns life too.”
Tegan hesitated but she couldn’t deny her interest was piqued. “First or second?”
“Second I believe,” Salem smiled at her budding interest. “I did not appreciate how much you love warfare,” he teased gently and was gratified when a faint blush coloured her cheeks.
“I am not as bloodthirsty as I seem,” Tegan defended herself. “But I am keen to learn from past mistakes.” She picked up her towel as she dried her face, “The best way to learn is from war.”
“Did Leonid teach these human wars?” Salem enquired as Tegan walked towards him.
“Very little. There were few Akrhyn killed, even the Drakhyn didn’t capitalise on the human suffering. For it to be abhorrent to even the Drakhyn, father felt that I needed to know little. Humans kill themselves with such ease and contempt, it is hard to feel sorry for them.” Tegan shrugged.
“He told you nothing of the concentration camps?”
“Camps?” Tegan queried.
“You should sit in on the class, you will learn new things,” Salem held the door open for her.
“What time does class start?” she enquired as they walked down the hall.
“Ten minutes, I thought I would give you time to change.”
“Thank you, Principal. I will report my findings to you at dinner.”
Salem watched her climb the stairs to her room, his familiar irritation at Leonid’s lack of empathy for the humans niggled at the back of his head. Old prejudices died hard. Leonid’s family had been slaughtered when he was a young Akrhyn all those years ago. Passing brigands destroying the farmhouse, murdering and torturing his family, atrocities witnessed he would never forget. Leonid himself had been left for dead, but an old Vampyre, desperate for company, had found him and turned him into one of the Made. Salem often wondered if the slaughter of his family or the fact that his death was stolen from him by his maker was the reason Leonid gave humans no thought or consideration.
“Principal?” Salem turned to his Commander of the Elite Guard. “I was looking for Sentinel Tegan, have you seen her?”
“She has gone to change, she takes a class in a few moments,” Salem explained.
“A class?” Bryce looked confused, “She is Elite.”
“Human Studies,” Salem explained.
“Interesting, I thought you were about to tell me it was dance,” Bryce jested quietly, keeping his voice low. Tegan had not been quiet in her protestations about the ball. When she learned that she would be expected to dance, Salem had quickly removed Sloane from the room before his cousin could physically harm him, since he was laughing so much at her outrage.
“We’re trying to coax her into it. I think Jasper has had some success while they patrol – but I fear we may have to hope she picks it up on the night,” Salem shrugged in defeat. “Her mother was the complete opposite,” he looked at Bryce and looked away again in embarrassment.
“Celeste was a beautiful dancer,” Bryce commented softly. He knew how hard it was for Salem to deal with all this again. He was one of the few Elite at the Headquarters who was old enough to remember the scandal when his Principal was younger. Bryce had never asked for the details and had paid no mind to the rumours. If it
wasn’t Drakhyn or directly involving his family, he paid it no mind. Court matters and their sometimes dangerous rumours, interested him not. However, it was obvious that the Principal Elder was eager to connect with his daughter and having as Bryce had his own family here at Headquarters, he understood the Principal’s desire. Therefore, Bryce was keen to see the relationship develop.
“I don’t suppose you have come across Martha today?” Salem asked, swiftly changing the subject. The older woman had arrived two days after Leonid had left, she had completely taken over the kitchen and scolded Blythe so thoroughly for her unimaginative and unhealthy menus that Blythe had offered to be demoted and Martha be put in charge in her stead. Tegan had been over the moon to be reunited with her caregiver and insisted she be moved into the family wing, beside Tove. Slowly, the new Holt was making her presence known in the House, gathering her loved ones near her and it didn’t stop there. Tegan had already won over Sloane and her brother, Michael, wasn’t far behind him. Tegan had also made acquaintances with some of the other Sentinels. Few families stayed in Headquarters unless one or more was based there. Some of the Elite Guard had their family there as well as some of the House Sentinels and Tegan was becoming acquainted with them all. Surrounded by Akrhyn, she seemed to be appreciating the contact and interaction.
“No, Principal, although I did see Blythe out in the gardens earlier, I would guess that Martha was in the kitchen,” Bryce commented.
“Of course,” Salem murmured as he made his way to the kitchen, Bryce following behind him. “My whole House is being taken over by Leonid’s females,” Salem muttered as walked along the quiet halls.
“Has there been any word regarding the threat from the Drakhyn?” Bryce asked quietly.
“Nothing. Tove is out searching with the packs that do not conform to the Sentinel way of life,” Salem frowned. “Marcus says she will get answers quicker than he will. The Great Council are looking into it, the Sisters have seen nothing that even hints at what the Drakhyn said.” He ran his hand through his hair with frustration.
“So, we still don’t have any idea who the female is? We don’t know if she is Akrhyn, Lycan or human?” Bryce grumbled, sharing the Principal Elders frustration.
“We know nothing. We can only speculate that the female is here as it was our Headquarters that they surrounded, but…” Salem trailed off.
“But we can’t be sure,” he finished for the Principal. “Do we still assume it is coincidence that Tegan arrived just days before them? She killed those three Drakhyn in the woods, you killed the fourth, who is to say we didn’t miss some?”
“No one,” Salem growled as he entered the kitchen and pulled up short when he saw Martha fully in charge of the kitchen.
“Salem, Commander,” Martha greeted as she oversaw several Sentinels peeling vegetables. “What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you had word from Tove?” Salem had always found that direct was best with Martha.
“She sent a fire message to Tegan last night, reminding her she needed a dress for Cornelius’s ridiculous ball,” Martha turned to stir a pot on the stove. “She did not mention how her hunt was going, just that she was well and had made contact with more than she hoped.”
“It worries me that Cornelius will not move the date of the ball,” Bryce said as he regarded the room. “He knows of the threat and yet ignores it. I can’t believe the Great Council has not intervened.”
“Cornelius is eccentric, his belief that the ball shows our fellow Akrhyns that there is no threat, has some merit… but,” Salem paused as he was handed a bowl of soup by Martha, “we will be on our guard at all times.”
“The ball is after the date the Drakhyn stated so that is something at least,” Bryce admitted, also accepting soup from the small Akrhyn female. “I still cannot get my head around them united like that, almost disciplined.” The two Sentinels sat at the table accepting the warm bread that one of the House Sentinels placed in front of them.
“If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it,” Salem agreed. He got chills thinking about the numbers of Drakhyn outside the other week. He had come across Drakhyn united many times but never in daylight. They had been organised, disciplined even, it was unheard of. Tegan had told them she felt that change was coming, told them that she had already come across Drakhyn hunting in pairs. They hadn’t dismissed her claims, but they hadn’t fully given her the credit she deserved. How times had changed when an eighteen-year-old Elite Sentinel was telling him about the dangers of Drakhyn. Who was the female that they sought? Could it really be Tegan? The overwhelming panic that he felt at the thought of his daughter being hunted by the creatures had made his already restless nights sleepless.
“Eat your soup, Salem,” Martha’s quiet instruction had him looking up at her. “You’ll figure it out, but you need your strength, you’re no good to your Sentinels or these Headquarters if you make yourself ill.” A gentle squeeze of his shoulder had him smiling at the familiar mothering of Martha.
“Yes ma’am,” he started to eat his soup. “It’s been a while since you told me to eat.”
“I thought now that you were a Principal you wouldn’t need instruction on basic sustenance,” the warm knowing smile softened the harshness of the criticism.
“It’s been an unusual few weeks,” Salem admitted quietly.
“It has,” she conceded, “but you will adapt, just like she is. Whatever the threat is, we will face together.”
“You think they mean Tegan?” His throat felt like it was closing as fear clawed its way from his insides, desperate to get out.
“I think if they do, they’re in for one hell of a surprise,” Martha grinned wickedly as she turned back to the many ovens in the kitchen.
Bryce snorted out a laugh and even Salem smiled at the thought of the fight Tegan would give them. But at the end of the day, she was just one Akrhyn against how many? And that was what scared him the most.
“It said that the female will give them many, which means they envisage that she will survive the birth,” one of the Sentinels who had been chopping vegetables said quietly. “I don’t know how that is possible. The spawn rip through the womb, how can one female endure that,” he shook his head, “and endure that to bear another?”
“I don’t know,” Salem put his spoon down with a sigh. “It seems impossible. There is no record that I know of where any female host has survived the birth.”
“The other Houses are searching, Principal,” Bryce reminded him, also putting his spoon down.
“We need more information,” Salem said through gritted teeth as he stood from the table.
“Have you tried to catch a live one?” another Sentinel asked.
“Yes, but they have been so quiet since the fence, there has been hardly any sightings,” Bryce informed him. He looked at Salem hesitatingly, “Although we could go to Prince George. Tegan said she killed one in the daylight there. Is it possible that there is a nest?”
Salem scrubbed his jaw. “From where she described the area, it is used mostly by the homeless, there would be no one to note their comings and goings.”
“It’s worth a shot?” Bryce asked.
“Come, we’ll talk to Marcus,” Salem said his goodbyes to those in the kitchen and led the Commander out. “She cannot go,” he said quietly to Bryce.
“No, I think it best in this instance that the hunting party be male Akrhyn only,” Bryce admitted. “They won’t like it, our female Elite are every bit as good, if not better, than our males… but the threat to them is too real,” he finished lamely.
“I’m so glad in this moment that I am not the Commander of the Elite,” Salem smiled as he walked away from Bryce, leaving the Commander cursing his bad luck as he hurried after his Principal.
They found Marcus in the library, muttering over ancient texts, so absorbed that he didn’t notice them until Salem cleared his throat. The Lycan looked up at them and stood back from where he had been
hunched over the table.
“What?”
“We think a hunting party should go to Prince George, to the area where Tegan killed the Drakhyn and see if there are any more there,” Salem informed him quickly, instantly holding his hand up to stop the Lycan from interrupting. “We propose only male Akryhn’s, a small party, with you in the lead, to hunt them out. If anyone is going to find them, it will be you.”
“And if I find any?”
“Bring it back here for questioning,” Bryce said with conviction.
“And how by the Ancients do you propose that I transport it, Salem?” Marcus demanded.
“We’ll work on it.” The Principal shrugged.
“We don’t question these creatures, we kill them,” Marcus snapped.
“Then maybe I can help?” They all turned to Cord who emerged from the shadows, his hood pulled low, his crimson robes standing out in the muted tones of the library.
“Why do you keep portalling into my Headquarters?” Salem asked him with a hard glare.
“To keep you on your toes,” Cord’s mocking tone irked Salem more. “Also, I need to see the little tiger.”
“Why?” Marcus couldn’t hide the suspicion in his voice.
“Who does he mean?” Bryce asked looking between all three of them.
“It’s irrelevant to you, Commander,” Cord dismissed him. “However, what is not irrelevant is the fact you could use me on your mission. A Lycan and a Castor, with some Elite Guard? We could easily transport a Drakhyn back here or question it at the scene.”
Salem hated to admit that the Castor had a point. He had no Castors in his House and was loathe to ask the Great Council for one. Their plan was risky and put Sentinels in danger – especially the idea of capturing one of the Drakhyn. They had long suspected that the Drakhyn could communicate through some form of telepathy, capturing one and transporting it was a huge risk to those involved.
“I hate to say this out loud, especially when he stands in front of me,” Marcus glared at Cord, “but he has a point.”
Into Darkness: The Akrhyn Series (Book 1) Page 16
